Legend of the Star Child
by The Green Writer
Summary: After awakening from her imprisonment, Ethel begins her ardous journey to find her true self, and what happened to her home planet, Mela Ithil. In the end though, will the answers make up for all her sacrifices? Or will she let go of her past and move onto what seems to be a brighter future?
1. 1-1

_To those who know what I'm talking about: yes, the planet's name is in Elvish. You're welcome._

Prelude

Long ago, there once was a crystal of power, and whoever controlled it, controlled the universe. Many wars were fought to gain this power, only to end in more failure than success for either side. As the universe began to fall into darkness, the guardians began their search for a way to destroy it. Yet one day, it disappeared. The princess of Mela Ithil had taken the crystal, swearing to herself that not another soul would even have the chance to lay their eyes upon it. Some claim she destroyed it, while others say she became one with it. In the end, the princess was almost taken from her home by the sith, who invaded her planet.

"And then what happened?" Ahsoka was surrounded by a large group of younglings. She had begun telling her story to three, and at this point there were about a total of fourteen, each one listening intently to every last word that flowed out of her mouth. "Well…along with Mela Ithil, the princess had disappeared from existence. To this day, the crystal has never been recovered, but we still celebrate a minor holiday, known as Star Child's day. Since the princess was always known by her nickname, the Star Child, it only seemed right to name the holiday that way."

"Well now, you've become quite the story teller, so when did you come up with that one?" Anakin's smirk never left his face. The group had scattered about now, finding something more interesting to occupy their time. "It's actually an old story I learned from one of the village elders here."

The mission was simple; convince the ruler of Mydonia to side with the Republic. What wasn't simple about this mission was that it turned out that the king had been murdered weeks before their arrival, and that a cowardly puppet had been in place. Yet upon hearing news of the Jedi arriving, he had quickly turned power over to his brother, who was completely against the separatists. What complicated the situation even more was that he was (by the elders' laws) too young to rule, so he would have to turn some of the power over to his advisors; made up of his village's elders.

"Well come on snips, we're just about ready to-"The ground began to rumble, and as the two headed towards the center of the village, they noticed that the natives were staring in awe at a broken statue. Yet upon closer inspection, it was more for what was in front of the statue. A girl lied underneath the remains of it, her white dress stained with blood and dust. She was unconscious and a pool of what seemed to be her own blood began to spread. As the pool became larger, the villagers began stepping back. "Why isn't anybody helping her, can't you see she's dying!?"

As Anakin began clearing the debris, one of the village elders seemed to appear out of thin air. "Stop, Can't you tell that she is one of the cursed?" His voice was booming for an eighty year old man. Judging by the fact that his clothes contained patterns made of golden thread, instead of silver, meant that he was the head of the king's advisors.

"What do you mean she's cursed?"

"I was merely a young boy at the time of her arrival. She granted us the power of wisdom, and aided us where our king could not. Yet one day, the cursed one had corrupted our king. He saw what she had done for us, and decided that instead of making her an ally, shaped her into a weapon to gain control over the entire system. We all knew that the only way to end the madness was to end her life… yet none of us could find it in our hearts to do so. Instead, we hid her away inside the statue. The cursed one you see before you is the Star Child, princess of Mela Ithil!"

"Well that's still no reason to let her die!"

"You fool; do you realize what you're doing? You'll destroy us all! One day, she shall seek vengeance upon us, and destroy the entire universe!"

"That won't stop me!"

"No Jedi shall ever set foot on Mydonia until the end of time after you depart, and may the force help you all."

The entire center was cleared, leaving only Ahsoka and Anakin to help the princess. "Let's get her out of here; I doubt they'll let us help her anywhere on this planet."

***4 hours later***

Tic couldn't believe what had happened. The general had picked up a stranger that apparently was trapped in a statue. Not to mention, said girl was sleeping in the bed right next to his. He didn't know why, but there was something about her that felt so…alluring.

"Hey Tic, how's your foot doing? Your bones good as new yet?" Tack smirked as he joked with his brother.

"That depends, how's your girlfriend? Oh, I forgot, your hand doesn't count." They always took shots at each other, and at the end of the day, they were still close.

"Very funny, I just came by to check on you, and seeing as how you're doing fine, I guess I should go and see what else I can do to your bunk."

"Don't you dare do anything!"

"I'll see you around…brother." Tack's laughter echoed through Tic's mind before he noticed the girl's eyes fluttering. When she sat up, her hand shaded her eyes from the light.

"Excuse me, but where am I?" Her voice carried a sort of smooth, polite tone. Her blonde hair curled near the end, and a pair of grey eyes met his.

"Well... can I get your name first?" Tic had absolutely no idea what to do. She seemed so innocent and naïve, but at the same time, there was something hidden behind those eyes.

"My name is Ethel, and I'm the princess of Mela Ithil. Now will you please tell me where I am and what is going on?"


	2. 1-2

With her legs crossed, Ethel remained seated on the ground between Ahsoka and Anakin, enjoying the silence of the council and sipping on a blood pack that she had requested earlier. "I don't know exactly what's going on. So far, what I've learned is that it's been a while since I was imprisoned inside a statue. Then there's the fact that an apparent war has been going on in my absence. An explanation would be nice, if you don't mind."

"Guarding the power crystal, you are. What proof have you do, hmm?" Raising her wrist, Ethel revealed a small crystal shard embedded into her skin, a minute, angel blue glow accompanied it.

"If this isn't proof enough, then I don't know what is."

"We'll have to discuss this, in private. Skywalker, if you will watch over our 'guest' now." He knew that Windu's suggestion was more of an order. Ethel had requested a tour of the temple, and seeing as how there was nothing else to do, they began their walk.

"So…what was being a statue like?" Anakin could tell that the awkward tension was growing, becoming so thick that you could slice it with just your hand.

"It was…ok, I guess. I mean, I wasn't exactly **awake** when I was trapped."

"Do you even remember anything?" She froze in place, her eyes dilating slightly. He could see how she trembled at the question, her fear began to show.

"I…I remember… Back home, the civil war… the plagues… fire….destruction… I wanted to help, but before I could…I…I…" Ethel began to wobble slightly before her legs gave out.

"Oh no you don't!" Pulling her sleeve, Anakin attempted to prevent her from falling. Yet the moment he grabbed her, he could feel it. The dark side within, being unleashed upon the universe. Everyone could feel it, force sensitive or not.

"_No heartbeat…dark side…crystal…destroy…kill her…" _Her consciousness was constantly drifting as she fought for control over her body. Memories that were long forgotten began to arise; Ethel's energy waned as she fell deeper into the darkness.

_***Mela Ithil, fifty years before arrival on Mydonia***_

"Ethel, we knew you were close to her…which is why we're breaking the news to you first. You see, Cecilia…something happened on the scouting mission, and…"

"Oh for the love of… Ethel, Cecilia's **dead**. She was bitten, and then she turned into one of those, those **things**. I know it's a lot to take in, but don't worry about it. We made sure that she didn't suffer."

_***Mela ithil, twenty years before arrival on Mydonia***_

"The crystal is the only thing keeping her alive at this point, and there's nothing more we can do. Everybody's dead, and I've been infected with the virus. To anybody watching this, Princess Ethel is our only hope left. If you find her, please, make sure you…take care of her memory. She holds the power to destroy us all, but only if given the chance. I know that she'll never forgive me for this, but as of right now… The princess is the only survivor of Mela Ithil. She **must** live if we're to survive, I don't know how long it'll be before she notices I'm gone. If anything, I hope that she never returns here. Which is why I'm sending her away before our planet is destroyed. I'm going to set the air on fire here in the bunker, after the bombs begin to go off, so as to prevent others from catching the virus. Please, wipe her memory, replace it, just don't kill her. As a sign of good will, please help her- Ethel? What are you doing? Honey, please, don't make this any harder than it is… I really hate to do this, honestly. You can't come back home, ever."

_***Mydonia, 100 years before the clone wars***_

"You're nothing more than a weapon! I made you who you are today! It's because of me that you're not on the street, selling your backside for even a loaf of bread! Surrender the crystal, **now**."

"By orders of the ancient council, we hereby sentence you, Star Child, to spend the rest of eternity frozen where you stand. May you be a lesson to the fool hardy that wish to become heroes, and may the force help you."

_***Present***_

"Master, she's waking up now!" Ethel's vision was slightly blurred, and after rubbing her eyes, she could tell where she was now. Well, kind of, she wasn't really sure.

"You gave us quite a scare back there, princess."

"Cut her some slack master, she's been through a lot."

She needed answers to questions that she knew they might not be able to answer. Yet, she at least had to give it a shot.

"How long have I been out?"

"You've been out for three days now, but that's the least of your problems." Ahsoka held onto her hand to comfort the lost princess.

"I don't like the sound of that."

"Well then, care to explain why you don't have a heartbeat, **Ethel**?" Anakin knew something was up, yet the mysterious energy burst was where he drew the line.

"I…I…"

"Master! She has an infection…right?"

"Yes, it's true. There was a plague on Mela Ithil, and I was one of the carriers. It was a virus that sends you into an animalistic rage, vampire-like symptons-"

"What **kind** of symptons?"

"You become light sensitive, develop a blood lust, some cases were shown that you go blind, but your other senses increase by about 400%, but at the price of turning you into a blood lusting war beast that never stops."

"That's…that's horrible. Who would create a virus like that?"

"Somebody that was bent on making us suffer for not allowing the Sith to take over." Ethel began stroking the crystal, seeking to gain some form of peace within it. "To be honest, I just wish I was smart enough to realize that destroying the crystal was the answer, but now I have to spend the rest of my existence, forced to bear the burden of the universe." She could barely feel the tears flow.

"It's ok; you're safe here, with the Jedi. I promise you, **nothing** is going to harm you." Holding her close, Ahsoka began to stroke Ethel's hair. Anakin only stood back, allowing to two to bond.

"I'll be back snips, just make sure she doesn't try and **infect **you." He didn't like Ethel, yet somehow he felt… empathy. Maybe it was the fact that she had lost those that were close to her, parallel to him losing his mother.


End file.
